ISIS has been carrying out terrorist attacks all over Iraq as the military operation to drive them out of Anbar Province has gotten underway, but none of them have been as devastating as the one that was carried out earlier today in Baghdad's majority Shiʿa Sadr City area: At least 76 people were killed and … Continue reading In Baghdad, a huge explosion of the intended variety

Speaking of America's close Turkish ally, apparently whatever leeway they bought themselves at that NATO Article 4 meeting a couple of weeks ago has run out, as far as some folks in the Pentagon are concerned: A senior U.S. official said Turkey gave American officials assurances last week that it planned to wrap up attacks … Continue reading Time for another NATO Article 4 meeting

Negotiations between Turkey's plurality Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) haven't been able to produce an agreement on forming a coalition government. The two parties reportedly differed on foreign policy and the role that President Tayyip Erdoğan should play in directly governing the country, among other issues, and … Continue reading Turkey’s election was so nice, they’re about to do it twice

MIA Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri sends proof of life: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has pledged allegiance to the new Afghan Taliban chief in an audio message posted online. The pledge to Mullah Akhtar Mansour was issued by al-Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab and was Zawahiri's first message since September last year. The chances that Zawahiri was … Continue reading Back among the living

Overnight in the port city of Tianjin, one of the largest cities in China, this happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeXBME2YVQo Latest casualty figures are 13 dead and "hundreds" (300-400 so far) hospitalized. At least two firefighters are missing; unfortunately, both that number and the overall number of fatalities can be expected to increase. The largest explosion had the … Continue reading So something huge exploded in China earlier today

We've already established that Chuck Schumer knows more about non-proliferation and Iran than trained diplomats, national security experts, arms control experts, nuclear scientists, and more diplomats. But did you know that Chuck Schumer also knows more about the military risks post by the Iran deal than actual military people? It must be true: Three dozen … Continue reading People who are obviously not as smart as Chuck Schumer: an ongoing series

The "Bomb Bomb Iran" network got a little smaller on Monday, when the anti-Iran deal group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) fired parted ways with (but really fired) their president, Gary Samore. Samore is a veteran non-proliferation expert who served as Barack Obama's first-term "Coordinator for WMD Counter-Terrorism and Arms Control," so you'd think his … Continue reading If you need an anti-Iran shill, why not call the best?

Over at LobeLog, I look at the phenomenon of Republican politicians, particularly the party's presidential candidates, eagerly praising Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Just last week in the debate, Ted Cruz hailed Sisi's "courage" when he "called out radical Islamic terrorists." You know, that's great, he gave a speech about the bad guys, cool. But … Continue reading Sisi’s very wealthy PR machine

Brookings' Bruce Reidel notes that it's been a while since anybody heard from Ayman al-Zawahiri: Zawahri designated Yemeni Nasir al-Wuhayshi—leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula—to be his successor in 2013. Then this June, al-Wuhayshi died in a drone attack in Yemen. Zawahri did not give a eulogy for his deputy. Then, the Afghan Taliban … Continue reading Have you seen this man?

After successfully negotiating with the US over a UN resolution opening an investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Vladimir Putin must have been feeling pretty good about himself. So good, in fact, that his government invited Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir to Moscow to try to reach a political settlement over the … Continue reading The tribulations of Vladimir Putin